The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 689: take time to meet
Chapter 689: Taking the Time to Meet
Mrs. Dong saw that her already weak and thin daughter had lost a lot of weight, her chin became sharper, and her facial contours became clearer. Her originally fair face now looked completely bloodless, as white as silk cloth.
Mrs. Dong’s tears fell down.
“Don’t move! Lie down before the sedan chair arrives. Where are you injured? Is it serious?” Mrs. Dong grabbed Bai Qingyan’s hand. She felt her daughter’s hands were cold and her heart felt like it was being cut by a knife. She covered her daughter’s hands in her palms and then put them in her arms, choking with sobs, “What happened? How could you be injured so badly!”
“Mother…” Bai Qingyan held Dong’s hand and said in a low voice, “This is a show for outsiders. Don’t worry, mother. You should understand that this time during the Wude Gate Rebellion… your daughter was too aggressive in suppressing the rebellion. If she doesn’t do this, she won’t be able to return home safely.”
Dong understood this principle, but she also knew that her daughter had to be truly injured; a fake injury could not be hidden from the emperor and the prince.
Mrs. Dong was more calm than before. She pulled her daughter up and down and asked, “Where is the injury?”
Bai Qingyan smiled at Dong, his eyes full of tenderness: “Mother, I have good news to tell you, mother, don’t worry… follow me back to Yunyuan, mother will be happy to hear it!”
Bai Qingyan hadn’t said it yet, hadn’t told his mother yet…that Ayu was still alive, but his eyes were already wet.
Dong lowered her eyes and watched her daughter tightly grasping her cold fingers, then looked up at her daughter. Knowing that Bai Qingyan would not speak without a purpose, she suppressed the weirdness and uneasiness in her heart and nodded.
The guards of the Bai Mansion had already brought the sedan chair. Bai Jinzhi and Shen Qingzhu, who had changed her clothes, got on the carriage. They carefully helped Bai Qingyan down from the carriage and sat him on the sedan chair.
Today, the Princess Zhenguo returned to Shuoyang. The people of Shuoyang all knew that she had defeated the fierce soldiers of the Southern Rong in Dengzhou, and escorted the prince back to Dadu. She also became a meritorious official who protected the emperor at Wude Gate. Many people with light work followed the Princess Zhenguo’s carriage to the gate of the Bai Mansion.
Seeing the thin and weak Bai Qingyan being helped down from the carriage, he looked seriously injured, as if he would be blown down by the wind.
The people of Shuoyang still remember how Bai Qingyan looked when he led his troops up the mountain to suppress bandits, riding on a tall horse. He looked so heroic, as if he had the ability to move mountains and seas and was invincible. But now he looks so thin and emaciated. How can people not be shocked?
Someone in the crowd whispered that Princess Zhenguo was shot through the chest with an arrow while protecting the crown prince, and she might not live long.
The people of Shuoyang looked at this princess who once was as powerful as autumn frost and summer shock, and they suddenly felt a sense of regret in their hearts, realizing that life is impermanent.
Princess Zhenguo returned to Shuoyang to deal with the issue of the Bai clan oppressing the people. She then trained soldiers and suppressed bandits for the people of Shuoyang. The people of Shuoyang were grateful and naturally hoped that Princess Zhenguo would get better and survive this disaster.
Moreover, the Bai family is full of loyal and brave people. The men of the Bai family all died in southern Xinjiang while protecting the people living in the border areas. The Bai family cannot afford to encounter any more troubles.
Then the elderly Doctor Hong, carrying his medicine box, was also helped down the carriage by Lupin. After hastily greeting the ladies of the Bai family, he followed the sedan chair with vigorous steps and shouted, “Slow down! Slow down! The young lady can’t stand the shaking!”
The voices of the people outside the door became quieter.
“The doctor said that the Princess Zhenguo cannot be shaken. It seems that this injury… is really serious.”
“The Princess Zhenguo must not be in any danger. In the last battle in Northern Xinjiang… General Zhang Duanrui died there. If the Princess Zhenguo hadn’t rushed there day and night, who knows what the situation in Northern Xinjiang would be like now.”
A scholar from Shuoyang nodded and said, “That’s right. Nowadays, most of the noble families don’t want their sons to join the army, fearing that the swords and guns on the battlefield will hurt their sons’ lives! The last time I went to the capital to take the spring examination, I heard people say that… The reason why King Bai Weiting of Zhenguo ordered the Bai family’s descendants to experience the battlefield at the age of ten is because other noble families no longer allow their sons to join the army! King Bai Weiting of Zhenguo was worried that our Jin State would have no successors to intimidate the generals of Daliang, Rongdi and Xiliang, so he took all the men of the family with him, but who knew… none of them came back!”
The colleague of the candidate sighed, “I also heard the impassioned words of the Zhenguo Princess on the plaque of the Zhenguo Mansion. I thought that the Zhenguo King took the Bai family’s sons to the battlefield to experience hardships in order to let them give up the idea of relying on their ancestors’ influence and waiting to die in the capital. Let them know what it means to eat a grain of rice from the people and protect the people for a lifetime!”
“What a pity! All the men of the Bai family are gone. If they were still alive…what a sight our Jin State would be like!”
“By the way, have you heard that the great scholar of the time, Mr. Min Qianqiu, traveled thousands of miles from Wei State to Shuoyang just to write a biography for the Bai family! That was Mr. Min Qianqiu! I heard that the old emperor of Wei State wanted to ask Mr. Min Qianqiu to write a biography for him, but the old man only said this to the old emperor of Wei State… Your Majesty has heard of this since he was a child, but if he has achieved nothing in his old age, what is there to write about him! His noble character should be a role model for our generation.”
A great scholar with such upright character as Min Qianqiu wanted to write a biography of the Bai family, which shows the loyalty of the Bai family. Even the great scholars of the Wei State admired them.
Bai Jinzhi followed her elder sister’s instructions, bathed, changed clothes, and followed all the etiquette. She then took Bai Qingping to the inn to meet the great scholar Min Qianqiu.
Unexpectedly, Bai Jinzhi and Bai Qingping came back empty-handed. When they arrived at the inn, the servant of the great scholar Mr. Min Qianqiu said that the old man had gone up the mountain early in the morning to enjoy the autumn scenery and would not be back until the evening.
Mr. Min Qianqiu had already anticipated that Bai Qingyan would send someone to invite him as soon as he arrived in Shuoyang, so he asked his servants to tell Bai Jinzhi to take good care of herself for a day or two, and that he would come to visit her after five days, and then he asked Princess Zhenguo to take the time to meet her.
Bai Jinzhi hurriedly said that he dared not, left the gift he brought for Mr. Min Qianqiu, and left with Bai Qingping.
After leaving the inn, Bai Jinzhi put her hands behind her back and whipped the horsewhip intermittently. She was a little afraid to go back to the Bai Mansion. Just now, her mother Li was unable to arrest and punish her because of her eldest sister’s order. But if she went back now, her mother would definitely punish her!
Bai Qingping saw that there were still people coming in and out of the inn, and also saw that Bai Jinzhi frowned and looked thoughtful, so he couldn’t help but ask Bai Jinzhi: “Princess, do you think… do you want to clear out the idle people in the inn?”
When Bai Qingyan was not in Shuoyang, Bai Qingping would ask Bai Jinzhi about everything. It had become a habit.
“Mr. Min never mentioned it, so we shouldn’t do anything unnecessary to avoid making Mr. Min unhappy.” Bai Jinzhi said.
These great scholars had strange quirks. Although Bai Jinzhi couldn’t understand them, she still took it to heart because her elder sister asked her to respect them.
Bai Jinzhi had also heard that Mr. Min was very rigorous in writing biographies and would always inquire about and find solid evidence before he could start writing.
Third update! Continue to ask for monthly votes…